The Society turned 100 in August 2018. Since its inception in 1918, it has published one volume of meticulously edited original South African historical documents almost every year. It was established in 1918 because its founders sought to provide a sense of the historical roots of the first new South Africa created in 1910, the Union of South Africa. Now, in the second new South Africa, the Society continues to pursue that same goal, but with a much wider sense [...]
99th AGM and launch of our 2018 volumes The first AGM under our new name, HiPSA (formerly the VRS), was held on 31 January 2019 at the elegant Ravenswood House in central Cape Town, a venue generously made available to us by the owner, a stalwart member of our society, Patrick Esnouf, to whom we are most grateful. In keeping with the landmark nature of this event, it was followed by the launch of two volumes, both published in [...]
Minutes of the 99h Annual General Meeting of Historical Publications Southern Africa - HiPSA (previously the Van Riebeeck Society for the Publication of Southern African Historical Documents - VRS) held at Ravenswood House, Hatfield Street, Cape Town at 17h30 on Thursday 31st January 2019. 1. Welcome and apologies The Chair, Prof Howard Phillips, welcomed the members present, and noted the schedule for the evening; the Annual General Meeting followed by the launch of the two 2018 volumes. He expressed [...]
100 years old and rising On 29 August 2018 the VRS turned 100 years old and marked the attainment of this memorable milestone with a series of celebratory functions in Cape Town, Pretoria and Johannesburg. In the very same building (originally the South African Library and now the Cape Town campus of the National Library of South Africa) in which our Society was founded in 1918 an exhibition was opened on our birthday by Najwa Hendrickse, Principal Librarian and [...]
The 2018 UCT Summer School Lectures took place in March 2018 on which occasion Dr Elizabeth van Heyningen coordinated a number of lectures under the heading of "The Van Riebeeck Society and the making of South African History". Lectures were given by Dr Pamela Maseko from Rhodes University ("The Hidden Voices - The unknown knowledge of the isiXhosa"), Dr John Rourke from the Botanical Institute ("Botany and General Science - Sparrman and Thunberg"), Prof Gerald Groenewald of the University [...]
We enter the 100th year of our existence with a new name in the offing and several centenary activities already launched or soon to be launched, culminating in a grand centenary function in Cape Town on 29 August 2018. There is also the possibility of a similar function in Gauteng later in the year. Read on for more information! RE-BRANDING 94% of members present at our AGM in Ravenswood House, Cape Town on 27 November 2017 voted in favour [...]
Minutes of the 98th Annual General Meeting of the Van Riebeeck Society for the Publication of Southern African Historical Documents (VRS) held at Ravenswood House, Hatfield Street, Gardens at 17h30 on Thursday 23rd November 2017. Welcome and apologies The Chair, Prof Howard Phillips, welcomed the members present. Apologies were recorded. As the Treasurer, Mr Danie de Villiers, was unwell, the bookkeeper, Mr Sakkie Nieuwoudt, would explain the Society’s financial position and answer questions. Prof Phillips expressed the Society’s sincere [...]
We enter the 100th year of our existence with a new name in the offing and several centenary activities already launched or soon to be launched, culminating in a grand centenary function in Cape Town on 29 August 2018. There is also the possibility of a similar function in Gauteng later in the year. Read on for more information! RE-BRANDING 94% of members present at our AGM in Ravenswood House, Cape Town on 27 November 2017 voted in favour of [...]
The 98th AGM was a momentous occasion as the great majority of the members present, as well as others voting by proxy, decided that the time has come to change the name of the Van Riebeeck Society. The name was originally chosen as a compromise and an attempt at unifying the Dutch/Afrikaans and English groups in the country. The name has lost relevance and is in any case not descriptive of the range of publications produced by the Society. [...]
The VRS has won the prestigious Archives Advocacy Award for 2016-2017 presented annually by the Western Cape’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The citation for the award reads: "The Van Riebeeck Society, founded in 1918, has done a lot of good work over many years promoting archives by publishing transcribed primary sources. In this way, the society has made available archival sources to many people and has made the public aware of the richness of history and sources available. The publications [...]
